Coastal Carolina loses head coach and running back

Coastal Carolina Football has been preparing to make the leap to FBS this season. They’ll have to do it without their head coach and a running backs for drastically different reasons.

Head Coach Joe Moglia turned the Coastal Carolina football teaminto an FCS force. He led the charge to get the Chanticleers into the FBS.  Now, his team will have to play their first season in the Sun Belt without him.

Moglia announced on Friday that he would be taking a five-month medical sabbatical to deal with a “bronchial asthmatic reaction to allergies.” In layman’s terms, Moglia’s allergies are so bad they can impact his ability to breathe.

“The doctors and I are confident that this will take care of the problem, and I will be 100% ready to go by the end of the season,” his statement continued. Jamey Chadwell was appointed the interim head coach of the Chanticleers. Moglia hired Chadwell in January from Charleston Southern to be the associate head coach and offensive coordinator.

Moglia, who is 51-15 in five years as Coastal Carolina’s head coach, acknowledged most coaches “wouldn’t make this decision, but I’m not like most coaches.” This couldn’t be more true. The Fordham and Delaware grad was a defensive coordinator at Dartmouth from 1981 to 1983 when he quit to go work on Wall Street. He worked for Merril Lynch and then became CEO of TD Ameritrade. Moglia stepped down as CEO and got back into coaching through an unpaid gig under Bo Pelini at Nebraska in 2009.

Sophomore running back Jah-Maine Martin suspended after gun arrest

Martin was arrested July 10 when he was pulled over for speeding and police found two handguns in his car. The sophomore was suspended from the school and team.

According to the police report, Conway Police pulled Martin over and conducted the search coincidentally in the Brooks Stadium parking lot. Four other men were in the car. Martin gave permission to search the car. Officers found two 9-millimeter handguns with two magazines and 16 rounds for those guns hidden under a t-shirt. One of the guns came back stolen. Because no one claimed the guns, everyone was charged with “unlawful carrying of a pistol and possession of a stolen pistol.” Martin was also given a ticket for speeding and driving without his license on him.

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The plan was to have Martin redshirt last season, but they were forced to burn it seven games into the season due to injuries.  As a true freshman, he ran for 171 yards and two touchdowns on 27 carries. With a grad transfer from Boston College and a plethora of equivalent backs, it’s questionable how big Martin’s role would have been this season.